The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett (recommended reading .TXT) đ
- Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Book online «The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett (recommended reading .TXT) đ». Author Frances Hodgson Burnett
The nurse was neither clever nor softhearted but she could repeat some of the London doctorâs words.
âYou probably will if you will do what you are told to do and not give way to your temper, and stay out a great deal in the fresh air.â
Colinâs tantrum had passed and he was weak and worn out with crying and this perhaps made him feel gentle. He put out his hand a little toward Mary, and I am glad to say that, her own tantrum having passed, she was softened too and met him halfway with her hand, so that it was a sort of making up.
âIâllâ âIâll go out with you, Mary,â he said. âI shanât hate fresh air if we can findâ ââ He remembered just in time to stop himself from saying âif we can find the secret gardenâ and he ended, âI shall like to go out with you if Dickon will come and push my chair. I do so want to see Dickon and the fox and the crow.â
The nurse remade the tumbled bed and shook and straightened the pillows. Then she made Colin a cup of beef tea and gave a cup to Mary, who really was very glad to get it after her excitement. Mrs. Medlock and Martha gladly slipped away, and after everything was neat and calm and in order the nurse looked as if she would very gladly slip away also. She was a healthy young woman who resented being robbed of her sleep and she yawned quite openly as she looked at Mary, who had pushed her big footstool close to the four-posted bed and was holding Colinâs hand.
âYou must go back and get your sleep out,â she said. âHeâll drop off after a whileâ âif heâs not too upset. Then Iâll lie down myself in the next room.â
âWould you like me to sing you that song I learned from my Ayah?â Mary whispered to Colin.
His hand pulled hers gently and he turned his tired eyes on her appealingly.
âOh, yes!â he answered. âItâs such a soft song. I shall go to sleep in a minute.â
âI will put him to sleep,â Mary said to the yawning nurse. âYou can go if you like.â
âWell,â said the nurse, with an attempt at reluctance. âIf he doesnât go to sleep in half an hour you must call me.â
âVery well,â answered Mary.
The nurse was out of the room in a minute and as soon as she was gone Colin pulled Maryâs hand again.
âI almost told,â he said; âbut I stopped myself in time. I wonât talk and Iâll go to sleep, but you said you had a whole lot of nice things to tell me. Have youâ âdo you think you have found out anything at all about the way into the secret garden?â
Mary looked at his poor little tired face and swollen eyes and her heart relented.
âYe-es,â she answered, âI think I have. And if you will go to sleep I will tell you tomorrow.â
His hand quite trembled.
âOh, Mary!â he said. âOh, Mary! If I could get into it I think I should live to grow up! Do you suppose that instead of singing the Ayah songâ âyou could just tell me softly as you did that first day what you imagine it looks like inside? I am sure it will make me go to sleep.â
âYes,â answered Mary. âShut your eyes.â
He closed his eyes and lay quite still and she held his hand and began to speak very slowly and in a very low voice.
âI think it has been left alone so longâ âthat it has grown all into a lovely tangle. I think the roses have climbed and climbed and climbed until they hang from the branches and walls and creep over the groundâ âalmost like a strange gray mist. Some of them have died but manyâ âare alive and when the summer comes there will be curtains and fountains of roses. I think the ground is full of daffodils and snowdrops and lilies and iris working their way out of the dark. Now the spring has begunâ âperhapsâ âperhapsâ ââ
The soft drone of her voice was making him stiller and stiller and she saw it and went on.
âPerhaps they are coming up through the grassâ âperhaps there are clusters of purple crocuses and gold onesâ âeven now. Perhaps the leaves are beginning to break out and uncurlâ âand perhapsâ âthe gray is changing and a green gauze veil is creepingâ âand creeping overâ âeverything. And the birds are coming to look at itâ âbecause it isâ âso safe and still. And perhapsâ âperhapsâ âperhapsâ ââ very softly and slowly indeed, âthe robin has found a mateâ âand is building a nest.â
And Colin was asleep.
XVIII âThaâ Munnot Waste No TimeâOf course Mary did not waken early the next morning. She slept late because she was tired, and when Martha brought her breakfast she told her that though Colin was quite quiet he was ill and feverish as he always was after he had worn himself out with a fit of crying. Mary ate her breakfast slowly as she listened.
âHe says he wishes thaâ would please go and see him as soon as thaâ can,â Martha said. âItâs queer what a fancy heâs took to thee. Thaâ did give it him last night for sureâ âdidnât thaâ? Nobody else would have dared to do it. Eh! poor lad! Heâs been spoiled till salt wonât save him. Mother says as thâ two worst things as can happen to a child is never to have his own wayâ âor always to have it. She doesnât know which is thâ worst. Thaâ was in a fine temper thaâself, too. But he says to me when I went into his room, âPlease ask Miss Mary if sheâll please come anâ talk to me?â Think oâ him saying please! Will you go, Miss?â
âIâll run and see Dickon first,â said Mary. âNo, Iâll go and see Colin first and tell himâ âI know what Iâll tell him,â with a sudden inspiration.
She had her hat on when she appeared
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